


Hiccups

by emetoandotherthings



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Hiccups, Illnesses, Sickfic, Tricks, Vomiting, emeto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 16:36:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20392792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emetoandotherthings/pseuds/emetoandotherthings
Summary: Prompt: Someone has hiccups that won't stop. So their friend suggests the spoonful of mustard trick without mentioning that it might make them puke instead. Which it does.Warning: Includes vomiting





	Hiccups

_“Hic!”_ Eden’s entire body jolted as a hiccup forced out of him even as he lay on his front, feeling the solid ground pressing up through his roll matt.

“Oh come on Eden!” Jack’s voice whispered through the semi darkness in the tent.

“I ca- _hic _–n’t get them to – _hic _– stop!” Eden mumbled; this was the fourth time today he’d had a bout of the hiccups.

The first set had started when Eden was three quarters of the way up Jacob’s Ladder, rigged up with a harness and trying to support Blake as he climbed to the next tier. They’d done everything they could to help him get rid of them, including pretending to push him from the top in order to give him a scare, but nothing had worked and he’d just had to let them run their annoying course.

Then they’d started up again not long after lunch time, as they tramped through the woods looking for clues hidden by the leaders. That irritate the rest of his patrol as they didn’t want to alert any of the rest to them finding where things were hidden. Eden tried to keep his mouth shut, holding his breath to muffle each hiccup, but that only ended in his chest aching from the spasms being internalised. In the end he couldn’t remember how they’d stopped that time, but he could still feel a tenderness in his ribs long after.

The third bout had begun halfway through dinner, and Eden felt himself sag in frustration as the first hiccup broke out of him. Eating wasn’t quite as easy as normal when you couldn’t stop hiccupping. His friends suggested a ream of solutions – drink with your fingers shoved in your ears, drink while upside down, jump up and down while singing the alphabet to confuse the diaphragm. None of these solutions worked, and Eden was wet and pretty convinced the last one had just been an attempt to make him do something stupid. Then his hiccups had disappeared spontaneously.

And began just as Eden climbed into his sleeping bag. The rest of the boys groaned as Eden tried to position himself so that his chest wouldn’t be able to move, hopefully preventing the action of hiccupping from being able to happen. Unfortunately lying on his front only forced the hiccups deeper into his abdomen and his ribcage started to ache all over again.

“I’ll give you a pound if you can hiccup for me one more time,” Blake mumbled through the fabric of his sleeping bag.

“Is that a pound – _hic _– for every hiccup? _Hic!_” Eden asked as he turned onto his back. “You might – _hic – _be very poor.”

“Never mind,” Blake answered with a sigh, “I thought reverse psychology might work…”

“I’ve got some water here,” Jude’s voice came from next to Eden, then there was a rustling as Jude sat up and searched for something at his feet. “Here.” In the very dim light hanging from the central pole of the tent Eden could see Jude handing him a bottle of water. “Maybe if you drink it continuously then it’ll stop your hiccups.”

“Thanks – _hic!_” Eden accepted the bottle, and he pushed himself more upright. It seemed that Jack and Blake had done so too; Eden opened the bottle and began to drink, and as he did so he could hear Jack start a chorus of _‘Chug! Chug! Chug!’ _that Blake had joined in with. Eden forced all of the cool liquid down, muffling a soft belch as he finished and lowered the bottle.

“Are they gone?” Jack asked tentatively, they all paused in silent hope.

“_Hic!_” They groaned as Eden jolted with another hiccup. “Sorry guys.” He grinned sheepishly.

“I think you’ve hiccupped more today than I have in my entire life!” Blake said, exasperated.

“D’you want – _hic – _to swap?” Eden groaned, bringing both hands up to hold his ribs, “God – _hic – _I need them to stop! _Hic! _This really – _hic – _hurts…”

“Have you tried forcing yourself to burp?” Jude asked.

“No – _hic _– how do I do that?” The pain in Eden’s chest was so tight that he was willing to do anything he could to make them stop.

“Take a deep breath in and swallow,” Jude advised, “you might need to do it a few times before you feel the urge to burp.” Eden took a great gulp of air, his stomach already quite full from the bottle of water that he’d downed, and the food they’d had at the campfire just before bed, still hiccupping.

“_BuuuuUURRrr – hic!” _Eden clutched at his chest, looking pained as a hiccup interrupted his burp. “Oh god that – _hic _– hurt!” Eden creased forward in his sleeping bag.

“Are you up for anything?” Jack suddenly asked, his sleeping bag rustling as he climbed out from it.

“If it’ll get – _hic _– rid of these – _hic _– hiccups, yes,” Eden agreed.

“I’ve got an idea, give me the water bottle.” He was shoving on his trainers as Jude handed him across the empty water bottle.

“You can’t go out! You’ll get caught!” Blake said as Jack began to pull back the canvas across the tent entrance.

“I’m willing to take that risk.” Even in the dim light they could make out Jack’s massive grin. “And anyway, I just need some water.” He grabbed his torch and waggled the bottle.

When he returned he was carrying a pot of something and the full water bottle which he chucked over at Eden.

“Take a drink, but save some of the water.” Jack knelt down next to his kit bag and rummaged with one hand for something.

“O – _hic _– kay,” Eden released his hold on his ribcage to take a sip from the bottle; Jack had found what he was looking for – his spoon. He shoved it into the little tub and stirred it for a moment.

“What you need to do is get as much of this onto the spoon and take a big mouthful, swallow it in one and then drink.” Jack crawled over, reaching across Jude’s sleeping bag to hand the little bowl to Eden.

“What – _hic _– is it?” Eden asked, in the poor light all he could see was the thick consistency.

“That would be telling!” Jack laughed, but as he went to go back to his own sleeping bag Jude caught his arm.

“What is it?” He asked in a low voice.

“Mustard,” Jack whispered back.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Jude would much rather wait it out until Eden’s hiccups stopped naturally; he knew that Eden didn’t have the strongest of stomach, but from beside him he heard a particularly loud hiccup.

“If it stops his hiccups, then yes.” By this point Jude was willing to let Eden decide.

All of Eden’s chest was aching from hiccupping, and all he wanted to do was go to sleep, so he’d give Jack’s solution a try. He unscrewed the water bottle and sat it right next to his side before scooping as much of the thick liquid onto the spoon.

“Here we – _hic – _go!” Eden held up the spoon, took a deep breath and shoved it in his mouth.

“Wahey!” Jack and Blake cheered; but the consistency of whatever it was turned out to be thicker than Eden had anticipated and began to burn as soon as it hit his taste buds. He scrambled to grab the water as his throat seemed to be closing up, preventing him from swallowing. “Drink! Drink!” He was trying to force it down with the water, he could feel it begin to sear its way down his throat. He’d closed his eyes as he swallowed hard.

But it didn’t make it very far down his throat, she felt his stomach lurch alarmingly and he fought to hold back a gag. He could hear the gurgling in his throat and he dropped the tub, slapping his free hand to cover his mouth.

“No, don’t throw up Eden!” He could hear someone shout, but it was too late.

His stomach had given a massive lurch and he could taste whatever it was that Jack had made him eat in the back of his throat. He pitched forwards as suddenly his mouth was full of liquid which sprayed out through his fingers, and the rest of the tent erupted into shouts as his belly decided to eject everything inside it.

The next wave was harsh – projecting a stream of vomit which gurgled out, and Eden could feel someone’s hand on his back as he heaved again. Suddenly there were adult voices and torches shining into the tent:

“What’s going on?!” Eden’s stomach contracted again, there had been a second where he thought it might be over, before he was hit by a massive retch and he could feel the water he’d drunk, then the bananas and chocolate from earlier in the evening making their reappearance. He coughed and spluttered as he tried to regain his breath.

“It’s okay Eden…” He realised that it was Jude rubbing his back and reassuring him. He slowly opened his eyes, knowing that he was covered in puke.

“I’m sorry…” He choked out weakly, closing his eyes as soon as he saw the spray of vomit coating his sleeping bag and Jack’s. He gagged dryly again, belching up nothing but air.

“It’s okay, you’re going to be alright,” Jude was speaking quietly. “Take a deep breath.”

“Jack and Blake, out the tent.” Eden could hear one of the leaders ordering.

“Wait – Jack,” Eden struggled. “What _was _that?”

“Uuuum…” Jack sounded like he didn’t want to admit to any part of this. “Mustard.”

“Oh god…” Eden covered his mouth with his hand again, then added: “At least my hiccups are gone…”


End file.
